Marty McSorley

Marty McSorley
McSorley in 2009
Born (1963-05-18) May 18, 1963 (age 61)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 235 lb (107 kg; 16 st 11 lb)
Position Defence/Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Pittsburgh Penguins
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
New York Rangers
San Jose Sharks
Boston Bruins
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 1982–2001

Martin James McSorley (born May 18, 1963) is a Canadian former professional hockey player, who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1983 to 2000. A versatile player, he could play both the forward and defense positions. He was also head coach of the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League from 2002 to 2004. He was a valued teammate of Wayne Gretzky when they played together for the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings, serving as an enforcer.

In 2000, his assault of Donald Brashear with his stick, in which Brashear suffered a severe concussion, led to McSorley's suspension, criminal conviction, and later his retirement from hockey.[1]

Biography

Early life and hockey career

McSorley was born in Hamilton, Ontario and grew up near Cayuga, Ontario. He made his NHL debut in October 1983 with the Pittsburgh Penguins but rose to fame after a trade in September 1985 sent him to the Edmonton Oilers. His arrival and physical presence soon made Edmonton's incumbent enforcer Dave Semenko expendable, and McSorley became known as "Wayne Gretzky's bodyguard".[2]

This title followed him to Los Angeles in 1988, when both he and Gretzky, along with Mike Krushelnyski, were obtained by the rival Los Angeles Kings. With the Kings, McSorley's bruising style made him a fan favorite; but he strove to improve his game beyond his work as an enforcer, earning great respect around the league for his hard work ethic, his fine team play, and his articulate intelligence off the ice.[2]

In the 1992–93 NHL regular season, McSorley led all defensemen in shorthanded goals with three.[3]

The Kings reached the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens, but in Game 2 with the Kings up 2–1, McSorley was caught with an illegal stick, which led to the Canadiens tying the game and winning it in overtime. Montreal eventually took the series in five games. McSorley had ten points in the playoffs and was the only King to score during the final game. Some suggested that he was the second most dominant King after Gretzky in the playoffs.[2]

McSorley was traded in August 1993 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for offensive forward Shawn McEachern. He had played only 47 games for Pittsburgh when the Kings re-acquired him on February 16, 1994.[4] Back with the Kings, he assisted on Gretzky's goal which broke Gordie Howe's all-time goal-scoring record. On March 14, 1996, McSorley left the Kings' organization for good when he was traded to the New York Rangers in a multi-player deal.

After completing the 1995–96 season with the Rangers, McSorley returned to the West Coast upon being acquired by the San Jose Sharks in August 1996. He spent two injury-plagued seasons with the Sharks, then returned to Edmonton as a free agent in October 1998. Confined to a part-time role in his second stint in Edmonton, he left after one season and signed with the Boston Bruins in December 1999. [5]

Assault conviction

In a game between the Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver on February 21, 2000, McSorley swung his stick and hit Donald Brashear in the head with 4.6 seconds left in the game. Brashear fell backward and hit his head hard on the ice, losing consciousness and suffering a Grade III concussion. McSorley was charged with assault and suspended by the NHL for the remainder of the 1999–2000 season and the playoffs, missing 23 games. On October 6, 2000, Judge William Kitchen of the Provincial Court of British Columbia found him guilty of assault with a weapon for his attack on Brashear. He was sentenced to 18 months probation. The trial was the first for an on-ice attack by an NHL player since Dino Ciccarelli's 1988 trial.[6]

After his conviction, his NHL suspension was extended to one full year through February 21, 2001.[7] It was the longest suspension for an on-ice incident in modern NHL history.[8] McSorley's contract expired during the suspension, and he would never play in another NHL game.

United Kingdom

During his suspension, he attempted to continue playing hockey in the United Kingdom with the London Knights, where his elder brother Chris was coaching, but this move was blocked by the International Ice Hockey Federation, in deference to the NHL.[9] A similar intention to play in Germany for the Munich Barons also failed. He joined the Grand Rapids Griffins of the International Hockey League and dressed for 14 games.

In the autumn of 2001, following the completion of his suspension, McSorley again looked towards the other side of the Atlantic. He considered purchasing the then struggling Cardiff Devils team with his brother,[10] to become a player-coach and to help to develop interest in the sport in the UK. He appeared as a guest player for both the Devils and the British national ice hockey team during a series of games in November 2001,[11] but the deal to purchase the Devils failed to come through.

Coaching career

McSorley coached the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League between 2002 and 2004.

Film and TV career

From 1995 to 1997, McSorley appeared in four movies in small roles: Bad Boys (1995), Forget Paris (1995), Con Air (1997) and Do Me A Favor (1997).

During the 2005–06 NHL season, McSorley worked for Fox Sports West in Los Angeles, providing in-studio analysis of games involving the Los Angeles Kings or the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He provided color commentary for the San Jose Sharks games on FSN Bay Area in 2006-07. His time in that role ended mysteriously midway through the Sharks' playoff series with Detroit when the Sharks announced McSorley would not return for the broadcast of Game 3 for personal reasons. No further explanation was given.[12]

He appeared in one episode of CSI: Miami in 2005 as rink manager Andrew Greven. On July 30, 2007, McSorley guest starred on ABC Family's Greek as himself playing a hockey goaltender. In February 2008, McSorley was featured as one of the pros on Pros vs Joes on Spike TV.

Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards referred to McSorley in her song "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory", with the lyric, "You're the Great One, I'm Marty McSorley..., I make the dough, but you get the glory." McSorley appears in the song's music video.[13]

McSorley is currently a TV analyst for Sportsnet and occasionally Hockey Night in Canada. He is a regular at Staples Center during Kings hockey games.[14]

Personal life

McSorley currently resides in Arizona. He married beach volleyball player Leanne Schuster in August 2002.[15] They have three children.[14]

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

Bold indicates led league

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1980–81 Hamilton Kilty B's GHL 40 16 17 33 72 — — — — —
1981–82 Belleville Bulls OHL 58 6 13 19 234 — — — — —
1982–83 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 2 0 0 0 22 — — — — —
1982–83 Belleville Bulls OHL 70 10 41 51 183 4 0 0 0 7
1983–84 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 72 2 7 9 224 — — — — —
1984–85 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 58 6 24 30 154 14 0 7 7 47
1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 15 0 0 0 15 — — — — —
1985–86 Edmonton Oilers NHL 59 11 12 23 265 8 0 2 2 50
1985–86 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 9 2 4 6 34 — — — — —
1986–87 Edmonton Oilers NHL 41 2 4 6 159 21 4 3 7 65
1986–87 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 7 2 2 4 48 — — — — —
1987–88 Edmonton Oilers NHL 60 9 17 26 223 16 0 3 3 67
1988–89 Los Angeles Kings NHL 66 10 17 27 350 11 0 2 2 33
1989–90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 75 15 21 36 322 10 1 3 4 18
1990–91 Los Angeles Kings NHL 61 7 32 39 221 12 0 0 0 58
1991–92 Los Angeles Kings NHL 71 7 22 29 268 6 1 0 1 21
1992–93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 81 15 26 41 399 24 4 6 10 60
1993–94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 47 3 18 21 139 — — — — —
1993–94 Los Angeles Kings NHL 18 4 6 10 55 — — — — —
1994–95 Los Angeles Kings NHL 41 3 18 21 83 — — — — —
1995–96 Los Angeles Kings NHL 59 10 21 31 148 — — — — —
1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 9 0 2 2 21 4 0 0 0 0
1996–97 San Jose Sharks NHL 57 4 12 16 186 — — — — —
1997–98 San Jose Sharks NHL 56 2 10 12 140 — — — — —
1998–99 Edmonton Oilers NHL 46 2 3 5 101 3 0 0 0 2
1999–2000 Boston Bruins NHL 27 2 3 5 62 — — — — —
2000–01 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 14 0 2 2 36 — — — — —
NHL totals 961 108 251 359 3,381 115 10 19 29 374

Transactions

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sports". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  2. ^ a b c Pelletier, Joe (5 June 2011). "Los Angeles Kings legends: Marty McSorley". Greatest Hockey Legends.Com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  3. ^ "1992-93 NHL Skater Statistics".
  4. ^ Barry Melrose (March 4, 2013). "O'Reilly situation is nothing new". nhl.com. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  5. ^ Caldwell, Dave (2002-06-19). "HOCKEY; McSorley's Stormy Career Makes Track Change in Springfield". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  6. ^ "NHL Player Found Guilty of Assault". ESPN Sports. ABCNews.com. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  7. ^ "McSorley Suspended From NHL Until Feb". ABC News. 2000-11-07. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  8. ^ "N.H.L. ROUNDUP; McSorley's Suspension Extended to One Year". The New York Times. 2000-11-08. Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
  9. ^ Newman, Paul (January 23, 2001). "Ice Hockey: McSorley foiled by ban". London, UK: Telegraph. Retrieved February 23, 2015.[dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Hardman McSorley dices with Devils". BBC News. 8 November 2001. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  11. ^ "Ice fans snap up tickets". BBC News. November 6, 2001. Archived from the original on 2023-11-26. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  12. ^ Pollak, David (Aug 2, 2007). "Popular Sharks TV analyst is back". San Jose Mercury News. BARF-Bay Area Riders Forum-Community-Kitchen Sink blog. Retrieved 2012-06-04.[permanent dead link‍]
  13. ^ "Ottawa singer Kathleen Edwards teams up with former NHL-ers for new video". NHL.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  14. ^ a b McSorley profile Archived 2013-12-10 at the Wayback Machine, usatoday30.usatoday.com; accessed February 23, 2015.
  15. ^ "Leanne Schuster: Career". Beach Volleyball Database. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
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Preceded by Co-winner of the NHL Plus/Minus Award
(with Theoren Fleury)
1991 		Succeeded by